"We've past the point where we could protect ourselves with reasonable steps and moved into an area where it's going to take some very strong medicine to cure us."
I agree, strong medicine is needed -- except we are not the ones who need a cure.
"During the civil war they had to tie patients down to amputate limbs in hope of saving the patient's life. We are rapidly approaching that point in our efforts to save our country and our way of life."
I call complete BS on this point. If someone wants to kill us then we should take the fight to them. We should not be willing to lose what the Founding Fathers called "Essential Liberties".
Yes, I realize that there are Terrorists among us. But the problem with the Tangos that live amongst us is that they get support from their home countries. If it weren't for radical regimes in the Middle East supporting those people here and in Europe then they wouldn't be much of a threat.
So we should take the fight to the source of the problem and stop having a polite, limited war. We go in it to win and don't stop until they give complete and unconditional surrender. It's what the Brits did in the 19th century and once they had established their determination for all the world to see, then no nation would dare threaten them. Did we prosecute WWII with this same sense of limited aggression? If we had we would probably be speaking German or Japanese now.
"Peace through strength", as Reagan said. No country becomes concerned for their safety because they are too strong. America has ceased to be strong and that's what the issue is. Think about how silly it is for a country the size of Iran to threaten us, with the most military power of any country on earth. I say, if they are itching for a fight, let's give it to them and see how they like it.
Bush has not made this point about the WOT and that's why his efforts have been met with such opposition. Or maybe it's just that most Americans (and Westerners in general) don't have the stomach for an all-out war anymore. They would rather restrict their own freedoms and lifestyle instead of going after the source of the problem.